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(07-10-2014 02:16 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

I just had an interesting conversation with Verizon. This will probably be helpful to many who spend time working abroad but want to keep their US based #.

Verizon allows you to suspend the phone if it's lost or stolen. This will suspend the billing cycle immediately. There is no charge to do this.

After 30 or 60 days, the Verizon rep told me to err with 30 days just to be safe, the account will reactivate itself and continue the billing cycle. However, if you call every 29th day to remind them that the phone is still lost/stolen they will continue to leave the account suspended.

By giving someone in the US access to your account they can call every month to ensure the account remains suspended because the phone has been lost/stolen. Whenever you return to the US simply call Verizon up and tell them that you've found the phone and want to continue service. When leaving again, just report the phone stolen.

I found this too good to be true, but the rep assured me repeatedly that this was OK and within their rules. She said at one point, 'can we penalize you for being clumsy and stupid? This is the United States, so of course we can't.'

She added that if you call Verizon and get an agent who gives you shit about doing this, just hang up and call back in a few minutes. Most agents understand and know the trick and don't care how many times you do it.

Interesting. Musta been a lawsuit behind this forcing their hand. I'd be curious...does the contract end date extend the # of days you had your account suspended?